Medvedev beat Murray every time without dropping a set, with their final meeting coming in the final of the Qatar Open in 2023
Daniil Medvedev says how Andy Murray’s career has inspired him
While Murray has now retired and is no longer an active player, he has now taken a different role on the ATP Tour.
Making a shock move to coach his former rival, Murray is set to reunite with Novak Djokovic at Indian Wells in March.
Medvedev will also be playing at Indian Wells, where he has finished runner-up for the past two years, but first will compete at the Dubai Tennis Championships.
Ahead of the ATP 500 tournament where he is a former champion, Medvedev spoke to the Khaleej Times about how he has taken inspiration from the aforementioned Murray, as well as ‘the big three’ and Stan Wawrinka.
“Yeah, Andy also winning the Olympic gold twice was actually crazy,” said Medvedev. “You know, Andy inspires me a lot.
“But I think Novak inspires me, even if I know I’m not gonna win 24 Grand Slams. Roger [Federer] inspires me, even if his game was completely the opposite of my game. Rafa [Nadal] is a lefty, but they all inspired me.
“And I would even say Andy, at least for the moment, is not comparable to me, because he won so many tournaments, Masters and all those titles. And I would say that maybe I like someone like Stan (Wawrinka), who won his first (Grand Slam) when he was 29.
“And this is kind of more inspiring, because he was beaten by those guys from time to time, and he was like, ‘okay, but I’m going to do it’. And that’s what I want to do as well. As I said, lately my level has been a bit lower than I expected, but I know what I’m capable of.”
Daniil Medvedev says whether he thinks he can win another Grand Slam
Medvedev is a former world number one and won his only Grand Slam title to date at the 2021 US Open.
Despite this, Medvedev has struggled so far in 2025 and has won only six of his 11 matches.
This includes a second round loss at the Australian Open, where Medvedev lost to Learner Tien in a match that finished at 2:54am.
Following his recent drop in form, Medvedev has even been asked about retirement, but the world number six explained that he still has ambitions to win Grand Slam titles.
“I see two points of view,” said Medvedev. “One is, lately it’s been a little bit tough for me. You know, my level has dropped a little bit. I lost more matches than I generally do. So it’s the reality. And at the same time, I proved numerous times that when I play my best tennis, when in my best shape, I can beat anyone.
“And that are my chances if I manage to come back to my form, I know I did that a little bit in Doha. I want to try to do it here (in Dubai).
“Then I have the chance of winning another Grand Slam or more. If I don’t, then it’s going to be tougher. So I just need to fight, work hard and try to beat some guys that are at the moment stronger than me.”
Alongside his one title, Medvedev has also reached five Grand Slam finals, with his most recent coming in the form of a five set loss to Jannik Sinner at the 2024 Australian Open.
